#Commentary of Alla Barkhatnova on Ukraine’s misappropriation of Wi-Fi technology

20.07.2017

Recently among Ukrainian politicians it has become very fashionable to parade their erudition, because of what they practically with a fanatical obsession do not stop surprising the world with statements about the exclusiveness and genius of the Ukrainian nation. For example, one of the recent statements of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the faction “Bloc of Petro Poroshenko” Gleb Zagoria that Wi-Fi technology is accessible to humanity only thanks to Ukraine again caused a wave of surprised and angry comments among users of Facebook.

The theory of Mr. Zagoria is that the Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarre is of Lvov origin. She was a developer of technology, which later served to create Wi-Fi and GPS-systems. According to the Ukrainian parliamentarian, the Lvov roots of the inventor automatically attributed the merits of the invention of Wi-Fi technology to Ukraine.

Outraged Facebook users have condemned Gleb Zagoria of historical ignorance, of stupidity and lies. After all, in fact, Hedy Lamarr never lived in Lvov. She was born and raised in Austria. Only Hedy’s father could boast of the Lvov origin – Emil Kisler. He was born in a city that at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was called Lemberg. But the most amusing is not this fact. Both – the father and mother of the actress – were Jews. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine what would happen to the Hedy Lamarre family if she actually lived in Ukrainian Lvov in the period from the 30s to the 40s. This was the time when the Ukrainian anti-Semitism in Western Ukraine reached its peak in its development and became one of the main activities of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (banned in the DPR organization – ed.). It is unlikely that the Kisler family would survive the Lvov holocaust of 1941-1944, the victims of which (according to various sources) became up to 1.5 million people. It seems to me that all the results of Hedi Lamarr’s works are achieved not because of its ‘Ukrainian’ origin, but in spite of the existence of such an outgrowth as Ukraine and its aspirations to misappropriate other people’s merits.

Practice shows that for most of the current Ukrainian leaders to call white – black, to give out a blatant lie for the national idea; to glorify murderers, bandits and marauders is normal. Ukrainian politicians, aiming to impart meaning to their country, have already managed to claim the rights to Tchaikovsky, Repin and Dostoyevsky, Anne de Russie and other Rurikoviches, hero of bylinas Ilya Muromets and accuse Russia of “stealing Ukrainian history”. Of course, such a path does not require special mental effort. It is much easier to find mythical Ukrainian roots among famous personalities than to create something of your own that could glorify the state.

Sometimes it seems that this logic cannot be defeated, because in Ukraine there are still people who believe in such nonsense. One can only hope that someday the number of stupidities of Ukrainian politicians will overflows the patience of Ukrainian citizens who will find the strength to bring other leaders to power.